Tony Lloyd: I did not seek to criticise the hon. Member for Halifax, but the rest of his colleagues in the Conservative party, who cannot be bothered to take up the important issues affecting west Yorkshire, Greater Manchester, south Yorkshire, the west midlands and so on. The fire authority in Greater Manchester faces a cut of £1 million unless the Bill is amended. The Government were certain, when...
Tony Lloyd: The Minister has told us that the Minister of State, Home Office, the Earl of Caithness, will meet the fire authority, but what difference will that make when the Bill has passed through the House of Commons? At that stage everything will be cut and dried.
Tony Lloyd: In the light of an earlier supplementary question, will the Minister take this chance to deny categorically that the ambassador was involved in paving the way for the rumoured coup against Pinochet, in which the United States is supposed to have been involved, in order to replace him with a Christian Democrat?
Tony Lloyd: asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science when he last met the National Union of Students to discuss student financial support.
Tony Lloyd: The Secretary of State seems to ignore the fact that the Select Committee's report unanimously condemned the hardship caused to students by the Government. Surely the right hon. Gentleman should tell the House what he intends to do about that. In reality, we already have the introduction of student loans by stealth. There is a good chance that, in any case, that is what the Secretary of State...
Tony Lloyd: asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what representations he has received concerning the Sampson report.
Tony Lloyd: Is the Secretary of State aware, however, that there is a degree of impatience at the fact that this report is always promised as coming shortly? When does he expect to make the statement that he promised over three months ago? During Mr. Sampson's inquiries, did he get round to interviewing the Chief Constable of the Royal Ulster Constabulary and his deputy, as was the intention of the...
Tony Lloyd: The Leader of the House will be aware that there has been a redetermination of the funding of local passenger transport authorities. Will he draw the Secretary of State for Transport's attention to the anxiety that the Bill that we are to consider when we reassemble after Christmas will mean that the redetermination no longer takes account of local factors but is a common uplifting, which...
Tony Lloyd: The Foreign Secretary cannot face both ways on the issue of trade with the United States, claiming great success in terms of lemons and spaghetti while indulging in a little sabre-rattling in his statement about potential American action. Six months ago, when the right hon. and learned Gentleman began his presidency, he was optimistic about trade talks, and we now face the serious possibility...
Tony Lloyd: asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on the future of the engineering industry.
Tony Lloyd: The Minister paints a rosy picture of the industry, but it is the same industry which has lost 1 million jobs since the Government came to power and the same industry which can no longer offer a future to young people in my constituency and many others. Do the Government intend to use the public sector to revitalise the engineering industry in the many areas where the public sector is an...
Tony Lloyd: The House will remember that during the summer the nation was agog. The suspension from duty of the deputy chief constable of Manchester was national and, because of its context, international news. Sadly, those events have passed into the realms of history. For a host of reasons, it is important that we should not forget the important issues that were raised then—the way in which serious...
Tony Lloyd: asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when he expects to make a statement on the Sampson report on the Royal Ulster Constabulary.
Tony Lloyd: The Secretary of State must recognise that taking the deputy chief constable of Greater Manchester out of that inquiry led to the widespread belief that there was some kind of conspiracy, some attempt to cover up, or some attempt to ensure that the areas he was investigating were not reached. The Secretary of State must recognise the major concern, not just on this side of the water, but in...
Tony Lloyd: Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?
Tony Lloyd: The last time that I followed the hon. Member for Leicester, East (Mr. Bruinvels) was probably when he made his maiden speech, and I preferred that speech to the tone of his speech today. I have some sympathy for the hon. Gentleman because he was dragged in by the Whips to make a contribution to this debate. Before I come to the topic of education, I should like to speak about the reference...
Tony Lloyd: Will the hon. Gentleman tell the House who is in political control of the bulk of the local authorities that have increased the provision of nursery education? Will he also say how little the Government have done to encourage that trend through the rate support grant?
Tony Lloyd: Without inviting the Leader of the House to trespass upon next week's debate on AIDS, may I at least ask him to confirm that the Government intend to make sure that, in advertising to the public the dangers of AIDS, all the effort that has been put into making sure that Sid is aware of the British Gas flotation will be equally put into making the British public aware of the dangers of AIDS?
Tony Lloyd: The Minister asked us to be gracious in our acceptance, but we are still in the position that we should almost bite his hand off, if it were there to bite. His remarks were less than fulsome, although we can read between the lines. I agree with the hon. Member for Manchester, Withington (Mr. Silvester) that we shall be returning to this should matters not work out, although everybody hopes...
Tony Lloyd: Well, we shall return to that point. This is an important matter. It is unusual for a Minister, especially under this Government, not to take the opportunity to say that he is prepared to spend someone else's money. There will be no cost to the Exchequer because all the domestic money will be spent by either British Rail or local Manchester bodies. I thank the hon. Member for Saffron Walden...